My X40 Odessey on ebay (need reliable C4K40 20GB drive)

[John Estal]

I decided to buy an X40 for my Christmas. The first one on ebay proved to have non-working LCD. I used external monitor to check it out and it worked OK. I loaded the correct video drivers and it still didn't work. I got a refund and sent the machine back. The next X40 was minus the HDD. I ordered a 20G Hitachi drive due to the expense of the 40G drive. It worked long enough to try Microsoft update to get latest XP-SP3 fixes. During download the drive failed to the point where it would not laydown regular NTFS format. I tried the Quick Format which seemed to work but in a while the load from CD failed with data errors. I got a refund on that drive an got another from same supplier. When I installed that it failed on the regular format. I got a refund and the supplier gave up.

Is there anyway that the machine could be "eating" potentially good drives. Do I have any alternative but to buy from another supplier and specify a "highly tested drive by the seller"
(maybe make a sale condition that the seller certify that he tested it or that the drive include XP installed?)

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[tim S]

If you have the media slice with the DVD then you can get a slim drive bay adapter to replace it,
stick in any regular 5.0V laptop drive and try again.
You should also get a USB floppy drive, make a WIN 98 boot disk (if you use Windows) and do all your
formatting in true DOS mode.
HarryC has had success with a Samsung ZIF drive while others (like myself) gave up on regular (slow)
drives altogether and opted to go the CF card/adapter route.
There are many postings here with all the details.
Tim S

[guanghua19]

I would guess it is not a drive issue. The problem is in the laptop side. I installed XP on 20GB and 15GB drives without any problems in my X40.

[sparta.rising]

Since both drives were from the same supplier, it could definitely be drive issues. Some eBay sellers are just [censored] shady.

[sjthinkpader]

Use one of those IDE to ZIF adapter and get a Hitachi 1.8in 20GB 5mm thick HDD. Harryc's 8mm thick drive require some modification but 5mm may fit without modification. My X40 is running on an 8GB CF card although it is only used for internet access.

Note, on the IDE-ZIF adapter, the 3.3V regulator needs to be removed and PCB trace jumpered for the adapter to work in a X40. X20/X30 use the adapter without any modifications. There was a post with picture of what this looks like.

You can see this setup 3rd from left in the photo.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f228/oar8/HDDSSD.jpg

[Zuluoz]

I went through the same saga as you are now. I wouldn't buy a Travelstar on Ebay because they aren't going to be new at any affordable price. I have seen supposed new ones and they are ridiculously priced, when I checked Lenovo wanted $900 for the 20Gb. The Travelstars have not got a good lifecycle so I'd look at a replacement option.

Your choices are replace with ZIF IDE/SSD or CF Cards, Or put a standard drive in the media slice and use that.

If you want to replace your drive with a ZIF, you can check out my guide http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=71722